Actually, most dry pasta is made without any eggs at all. "Egg noodles", at least in my mind, refers to any pasta made with whole eggs or egg yolks, as opposed to dry pasta made only with durham wheat.

I managed to find the difference so I figured I'd post it for posterity's sake:

When flour (preferably duram wheat) is mixed with egg (solids) it is termed a noodle, and under Canadian law a noodle must contain a certain level of egg solid (sorry but I don't have a specific number). It can contain oil but doesn't need to.

When flour is mixed with water (and some times oil) it is termed macaroni (sp?). This can contain eggs, but the traditional South Italian tradition is just flour and water.

Pasta does not contain egg. You can put egg in if you like but that is not normal pasta.

I'm not so sure about that.

Do you consider ravioli and lasagna sheets pasta? Because I've never seen a recipe for either that does not contain eggs. Egg pasta in general, whether cut as fettuccine, tagliatelle, or pappardelle, seems to be very common when prepared fresh.

I'm not buying your statement that egg in pasta dough is not normal, because it seems normal to me—even the cookbooks I bought in Italy had recipes involving eggs for basic pasta dough. Perhaps it's a regional difference, I don't know.

Agreed. Pasta has flour, water, and salt. Egg in pasta, indeed! My grandma would throw a fit. Egg noodles are only fit for soup.

This is odd, as I've been taught by an Italian neighbor to put eggs in certain kinds of fresh pasta, especially lasagne. Once again, either it's regional, or it's an American thing—although like I said, the cookbook I got from Italy has eggs in one of its two basic pasta recipes. My curiosity is especially piqued now.

This is odd, as I've been taught by an Italian neighbor to put eggs in certain kinds of fresh pasta, especially lasagne.

To be honest, I'm not sure how my grandma makes lasagne. It could very well have egg in it. I suppose that lasagne is technically pasta, but it certainly isn't the first thing that comes to mind under that category, at least in my experience. For me, growing up, pasta was always non-egg noodles, usually spaghetti or ziti, with some sort of sauce on them, usually sugo (always tomato) or olive oil-with-stuff. It may be a regional thing -- my grandmother was Sicilian.

To be honest, I'm not sure how my grandma makes lasagne. It could very well have egg in it. I suppose that lasagne is technically pasta, but it certainly isn't the first thing that comes to mind under that category, at least in my experience. For me, growing up, pasta was always non-egg noodles, usually spaghetti or ziti, with some sort of sauce on them, usually sugo (always tomato) or olive oil-with-stuff. It may be a regional thing -- my grandmother was Sicilian.

Well, I have heard it said that flour+water equals pasta, and flour+eggs equals noodles. But that seems a gross oversimplification to me. I can't seem to find any really definitive texts lying around.

Noodle: a food paste made with egg and shaped typically in ribbon form.

Pasta: paste in processed form (as spaghetti) or in the form of fresh dough (as ravioli)

So, technically, noodle is a subset of pasta. That is, they're both pastes, but pasta is a catch-all term, while noodle is a pasta with eggs. Notice, also, that even though most people call them spaghetti noodles, they're technically pasta, and not noodles at all.

Legend has it that upon being served a dish of this food, an early Italian sovereign exclaimed "Ma caroni! " meaning "how very dear." This semolina-and-water PASTA does not traditionally contain eggs. Most macaronis are tube-shape, but there are other forms including shells, twists and ribbons. Among the best-known tube shapes are: elbow (a short, curved tube); ditalini (tiny, very short tubes); mostaccioli (large, 2-inch-long tubes cut on the diagonal, with a ridged or plain surface); penne (large, straight tubes cut on the diagonal); rigatoni (short, grooved tubes); and ziti (long, thin tubes). Most macaronis almost double in size during cooking. The Italian spelling of the word is maccheroni ."

so other shaped macaroni is allowed. Still doesn't clear up definitions

re: "My grandmother's recipe includes eggs" and "Every pasta recipe I have includes eggs" etc.

Yes, fresh pasta typically includes eggs. But normal, store-bought dried pasta does not include eggs. Check the ingredients.

I think the confusion is that there's so many different types of pasta, all slightly different. Fresh pasta - the stuff you make at home or shudder buy in packages at the grocery store's deli case includes eggs. Dried egg pasta includes eggs. But plain ol' dried pasta - the dry spaghetti, fettucine, linguine that you buy & boil - does not include eggs.

And don't ask me what those crazy Canucks do. They know enough to call Kraft Dinner "Kraft Dinner" instead of "Macaroni and Cheese", but then again, they all seem to like Tim Horton's coffee. You can't rely on 'em for anything, and obviously their pasta naming conventions are suspect.

So, please can I ask whether maccheroni is the Italian for "pasta no matter what the shape"? The resaon is that an American friend seems to call all pasta "macaroni", whereas I call "pasta" of whatever shape "pasta" and what I (UK) call "macaroni" is what she calls" elbows". It was quite worrying when I first heard about the elbows - visions of cannibalism.

I *would* like to learn the correct term, or nearest possible in English, so as to dispel one bit of my ignorance.

So, please can I ask whether maccheroni is the Italian for "pasta no matter what the shape"? The resaon is that an American friend seems to call all pasta "macaroni", whereas I call "pasta" of whatever shape "pasta" and what I (UK) call "macaroni" is what she calls" elbows". It was quite worrying when I first heard about the elbows - visions of cannibalism.

I *would* like to learn the correct term, or nearest possible in English, so as to dispel one bit of my ignorance.

I think it's a regional difference in terminology. U.S. regionalism, not Italian regionalism.

I grew up in an Italian family (in the U.S. mostly) and we called only the elbow-shaped pasta "macaroni." Every other pasta was called by its specific name - linguine, farfalle, penne, etc. Most families I know who are first-generation American do the same thing.

It seems to me, in my experience, that it's mostly familes of Italian descent who have been here for many generations who call all pasta - no matter what the shape - by the word "macaroni." They are also usually the ones who refer to red sauce as "gravy." I never heard that term in my entire life (large Italian family and traveled to Italy many times) until I was about 28 years old and working at an "Italian" (Americanized Italian) restaurant. Some guy asked for noodles with gravy and I thought he meant gravy like you put on roast beef.

I think it's a regional difference in terminology. U.S. regionalism, not Italian regionalism.

I grew up in an Italian family (in the U.S. mostly) and we called only the elbow-shaped pasta "macaroni." Every other pasta was called by its specific name - linguine, farfalle, penne, etc. Most families I know who are first-generation American do the same thing.
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Thank you! Haha - that is what is done in Britain too - I mean not only by people of Italian descent. This is good, so A) I can continue to find thte "elbow" thing strange and amusing, and B) if I ever visit Italy, I shall be able to buy pasta, at least, and will not starve.

Sorry I am a bit slow - I still dont get what you are on about - I only just discovered that in the US all pasta is called macaroni. duzzenmatta

Is okay. The color of the sky in my little world is nice, so I stay there most of the time.

It doesn't seem to me like all of the pasta here is called macaroni. We've got spaghetti and riggatoni and spimoni like other places. The term Macaroni is usually reseved for the little bent tubes you mentioned, though it isn't the only tube pasta and can come in other shapes. Little bent tube macaroni is pretty popular, though, especially Macaroni and Cheese by Kraft (trademark).

Still doesn't tell us why it's different from egg noodles, though. (to quote a great person: "duzzenmatta.")

A thought: I've never seen egg noodles that were not short, flat, somewhat wavey rectangular shapes. Could their shape be what earns them the name, since it ain't the ingredients? Or has someone seen oddly shaped egg noodles?

My boxes of Barilla, San Georgio, and Safeway brands of Macaroni, Fetuccini, Capellini, and Vermicelli all list semolina, Ferrous Sulfate, Folic Acid, Thiamin, and Riboflavin as their only ingredients.